The Sustainability Scholars Program is an innovative paid internship program. We match UBC graduate students with on- and off-campus sustainability partners to work on applied research projects that advance sustainability across the region. Managed by the UBC Sustainability Hub.
Apply your research skills to real-world sustainability challenges
Get paid and gain valuable professional work experience
Develop applied skills and knowledge under the guidance of a mentor
Build your professional network and enhance your career prospects

How It Works

The program is open to full-time UBC graduate students from any program or discipline. As a Sustainability Scholar, you work under the guidance of a mentor on an applied research project that supports their organization's sustainability goals.

Apply

UBC Sustainability Scholars work on applied research projects across a wide range of environmental, economic and social sustainability topics. See our list of current paid internship opportunities.

Project Library

The Scholars Project Library contains hundreds of reports, charts, tool-kits, and more, documenting the applied research produced by Scholars since 2010. A useful body of knowledge to support further research around sustainability.

Fraser Estuary Research Collaborative (FERC)

A new stream in the Sustainability Scholars Program focusing on applied research with the goal of restoring and protecting the endangered Fraser Estuary.

Partner with us

Partner organizations are essential to the UBC Sustainability Scholars Program. Partners provide work experience for UBC graduate students and benefit from their applied research.

Meet the scholars

UBC Sustainability Scholars come from all kinds of backgrounds and academic disciplines. Scholars stand out for being passionate about sustainability, having a strong work ethic, and for their applied research skills.

Fund scholars

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality are some of the most urgent issues facing our world today. Support from donors will allow scholars to make a direct impact through organizations doing the on-the-ground work needed to address climate change and other critical sustainability challenges.

Program History

Sustainability Scholars’ projects have been helping to move the dial on sustainability across the region for over 10 years. Find out more about our history, milestones, and impact.

Project Library

This project unpacks failings of currently-dominant (colonial) approaches to cumulative effects assessment and management and explores Indigenous-centric alternatives to support the Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association (SSIGA) in developing an Indigenous-centric cumulative effects framework. One that supports sustainable decision-making for the long-term holistic health of the Fraser River Estuary, in ways that center and empower the laws, ways of knowing, being, doing and valuing of member Nations. Findings are based on integrative literature review and iterative workshops with experts. 
To respect Indigenous knowledge governance the final report is confidential, but the Executive Summary is shared here and includes summaries of key shifts required, recommendations for various actors involved, and areas recommended for future research.

Partner: Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association (SSIGA)
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, restoration, conservation

pdf
2022
Jennifer Cutbill

Worldwide, bird populations are under severe decline. Climate change, human activity, habitat loss and prey loss are the main drivers of these declines. Shorebirds, commonly called waders due to their behaviour of wading and foraging in intertidal mudflats and beaches, are also in decline. This report consists of a review of current shorebird and water bird monitoring protocols employed in the Americas and compares and contrasts their methods.  

Partner: Birds Canada
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, restoration

pdf
2022
Bretta McCall

The report explores passive and active technical options to retrofit Strata residential buildings in response to a warming climate. Split heat pumps are found to be the most appropriate to add cooling infrastructure as well as being a lower carbon form of heating. Sources of policy barriers and knowledge gaps are also explored with recommendations that ultimately reduce these barriers.

Partner: UBC Sustainability & Engineering
Funder: BC Hydro
Keyword: green buildings, climate change resiliency

pdf
2022
Tsubasa Bolt

This project gathered insights from a literature review and 31 practitioner interviews about the key challenges and opportunities that exist to accelerate eelgrass and tidal marsh conservation and restoration in the Fraser River estuary. Includes summaries of challenges and opportunities that were salient to interviewees, 10 priority actions, and ideas for how an NGO like WWF-Canada could contribute to eelgrass and tidal marsh recovery in the Fraser River estuary.

Partner: WWF-Canada
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords:  biodiversity, ecological systems, ecological governance

pdf
2022
Anna Santo

This project maps ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, water quantity and quality), identifies potential new Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory (SEI) polygons, and describes the policy landscape of the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. Our analyses, including policy implications and recommendations for future research, will inform an updated Natures Without Borders document, which is a conservation strategy often consulted by municipal planners in their decision-making and land use planning.

Partner: Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT)
Funder: UBC
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, water

pdf
2022
Jannatul Ferdous, Michelle Hak Hepburn, Ehsan Pashanejad & Ira Sutherland

This project aims to assess the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) for reconnecting floodplains with rivers and offers benefits such as flood risk reduction and pacific salmon survival. The findings are based on a literature review and include recommendations for improving our understanding of the water storage capacity of multiple NBS, guidelines for stakeholder participation, and integrated decision-making tools that rank different NBS based on competing interests.

Partner: Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords:  biodiversity, water

pdf
2022
Sadia Ishaq

The overarching aim of this project was to characterize human and environmental health concerns associated with ingredients in skincare products used in healthcare facilities in BC. An inventory containing, for example, ingredient identifiers, ingredient composition, and a health hazard/risk ranking scheme was developed to support a systematic and structured characterization of the health concerns.

Partner: Vancouver Coastal Health
Funder: Vancouver Coastal Health
Keywords: Skincare ingredients, Human and Environmental health concerns

pdf
2022
Jerry Achar

This literature review provides foundational information to the Tŝilhqot'in National Government on the management of forest ecosystems, wildlife habitats, and wild food harvesting. The objective is to gather information based on peer-reviewed scientific papers, published Indigenous knowledge, and grey literature on 28 native plants of BC for their medicinal/edible properties, nutrients and propagation methods. The  final project is delivered as a report and individual fact sheets per plant.

Partner: Tŝilhqot'in National Government (TNG) 
Funder: UBC
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, food systems

pdf
2022
Shabnam Vaghaye-negar

This project aimed to estimate the carbon sequestration, pollution removal, and stormwater attenuation of existing public urban forests of the City of Victoria using the iTree Eco model in anticipation of the potential effects of climate change. It includes recommendations for improving carbon stocks in different species and communities and increase of green structures for stormwater runoff.  It also explore the scope of Lidar data and the iTree Hydro model for stormwater studies.

Partner: Corporation of the City of Victoria
Funder: Corporation of the City of Victoria
Keywords: urban forestry

pdf
2022
Pramila Khatri Chhetri

The report addresses the issue of an increasing number of retired Lithium ion batteries as a dark outcome of electrification. It includes information about various stakeholders, policies, incentives, regulations, and processes to deal with end-of-life batteries and a guide to battery disposal, recycling and reuse.

Partner: TransLink
Funder: TransLink
Keywords: social sustainability, transportation, waste management & recycling

pdf
2022
Eshita Swain

This research engaged with the residential energy management sector in BC. Indigenous housing societies in BC require the right resources to make their homes energy efficient and net zero. This piece of work aims to contribute to educational capacity-building by exploring training opportunities, from building construction to asset management, and how they can be improved to cater to the needs of Indigenous communities better.

Partner: Aboriginal Housing Management Association
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: green buildings, leadership & behaviour change, sustainability in education

pdf
2022
Rashi Chaturvedi

These plain language factsheets describe the seasonal diet selection and important interactions amoung ungulates and bears in the Tŝilhqot'in Territory. The factsheets will be used by the Nation to inform research and land management decisions as well as for educational purposes. Understanding the needs of these animals and how they interact with each other is vital to inform wildlife management decisions.

Partner: Tŝilhqot'in National Government (TNG) 
Funder: UBC
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, wildlife management

2022
Orna Phelan

These factsheets summarize some of the information compiled during an extensive literature review and technical report prepared for the Tŝilhqot'in National Government. They outline the characteristics, uses of, and challenges associated with biochar. This information was compiled to help inform resource management decisions within the Tŝilhqot'in Territory, and particularly to understand if biochar could be utilized to support and/or increase forestry productivity.

Partner: Tŝilhqot'in National Government (TNG) 
Funder: UBC
Keywords: food systems, forest systems, soil 

pdf
2022
Morgan Hamilton

This project explores opportunities for street furniture to contribute to climate resiliency and sustainability. Street furniture is a vital component of public infrastructure and exists in a busy area of the street. In the context of expected climate change impacts this report explores how street furniture renewal can support mitigation and adaptation strategies that include sustainable building practices, new technology, and urban design with a focus on equity.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: climate adaptation, climate mitigation, equity, diversity, inclusion, green buildings, supply chain management & green procurement, transportation

pdf
2022
Amy Liebenberg

This project aims to visually communicate the importance of restoration work for the health of the Lower Fraser River. Graphic renderings raise awareness, generate public support and motivate investors, making them useful tools for achieving ecological enhancement.  By visualizing the creation of "North Arm Intertidal Habitat Park" this project examines the importance of tidal marsh habitat, and proposes an opportunity for its restoration and protection within the Fraser River Estuary.

Partner: Rivershed Society of BC
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, restoration

pdf
2022
Tess Adebar

The toolkit for installing heat pumps was developed to support the implementation of community-wide heat pumps in remote Indigenous communities. It is tailored as a knowledge-sharing platform and has been developed for anyone interested in learning about the do's, don'ts, and other considerations for heat pump installations. The toolkit covers key knowledge on funding, planning and implementation process, and maintenance. 

Partner: Coastal First Nations - Great Bear Initiative
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: green buildings, sustainable development & green economy

pdf
2022
Rudri Bhatt

In response to the need for research highlighting the importance of urban agriculture (UA) in BC, as well as to guide future policies surrounding UA in the province, this project identified and defined current UA initiatives in BC. This report categorizes 373 UA initiatives in the province according to location, type of initiative (e.g., community garden), land ownership, and educational component (if present), and provides recommendations for future research. 

Partner: Public Health Association of BC
Funder: UBC
Keywords: food systems, social sustainability, sustainable development & green economy

pdf
2022
Gabrielle Edwards

Food systems in BC are riddled with inequalities. Planning offers a unique site to enact social justice in community food systems to avoid reinforcing and replicating historical harms and injustices. The objectives of the Representation and Engagement Tool are to a) examine the representation and engagement problematic patterns, and b) build the capacity of individuals and community organizations to integrate Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in community food system planning.

Partner: Public Health Association of BC
Funder: UBC
Keywords: food systems, leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability

pdf
2022
Tebogo T Leepile

This report explores the relationship between street and sidewalk pavement rehabilitation and their impacts on the urban forest. Trees are a powerful tool for combatting extreme heat, but street trees are often grown in constrained environments. Streets in need of rehabilitation or replacement are identified, and the report asks whether those streets can serve other ecological functions that contribute to the City of Vancouver's Climate Emergency Action Plan targets.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC 
Keywords: climate adaptation, climate mitigation, green infrastructure, biodiversity, ecological systems, transportation

pdf
2022
Trey Schiefelbein

This report aims to study the potential of establishing an innovation, training, and optimization space (ITO) within the wastewater treatment plants operated by Metro Vancouver. The report summarizes the surveys and interviews targeting around 20 municipalities to understand the incentives and obstacles of pursuing innovation and research in municipal wastewater treatment. The report also outlines some business and operation models of ITOs or similar institutions that can be used as references.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: green buildings, waste management & recycling, water 

pdf
2022
Jiashu Yang

Pages